ET deals: Xeon-powered Dell PowerEdge T110 for $489

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Normally when we talk about desktop PC deals, we see a fairly run-of-the-mill mini tower or small form-factor machine spec’d to work well for most users. Every now and then though, we find a real processing beast with some hefty savings will make you reconsider yet another desktop purchase.

In the case of this PowerEdge T110, we are dealing with a “compact tower” server. As you can see in the image below, there is sufficient space inside to keep data drives a bit further away from the heat-generating mainboard and power supply. You have room for a combination of up to four 3.5-inch drives or six 2.5-inch drives with a maximum of 12TB supported by the motherboard, including super-fast 15K SAS drives and, of course, SSDs.

This model comes powered by a Xeon E3-1220, which is actually a 2011 Sandy Bridge processor. Don’t let that fool you though, the quad-core Xeon processor is built to efficiently process multiple requests simultaneously. The 1220 sports four cores that clock between 3.1GHz and 3.4GHz and is optimized to provide consistent, high-saturation performance without relying on hyperthreading or overclocking.

Moving to a server platform like the T110 also gains you the option to use ECC RAM, which helps reduce pesky BSoDs, and more PCI Express lanes to allow for multiple expansion devices. Got a powerful GPU, RAID controller, and a fast storage device running through your PCIe lanes? This system will handle it without a second thought.

Unlike your average consumer desktop, moving to the server platform also opens up your choices for operating systems by a huge margin. This sale price does not include Windows, though it is available for an added cost. Rather, you can choose between preloaded Novell SUSE or Red Hat Linux Enterprise options at no extra cost or even no operating system at all. You also have about a dozen different RAID controller card options, both hardware and software, that can be added to this machine at no extra cost.

Out of the box you start with a 500GB 7200rpm SATA hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and the quad-core Xeon. All of these options can be upgrade at the time of purchase or of course you can easily change them out later at your discretion, thanks in part to the easy-access tool-less chassis design.

Normally this machine starts just $941, but thanks to a combination of 35% instant savings and a stackable $120 coupon code you can grab it starting at just $489. Under $500 is a great price for even a regular quad-core desktop, but with the power and flexibility of this server-grade hardware you are getting a ton of machine for your dollar.